Questions and Answers
by Katie of Gryffindor
Summary: Percy and Oliver are roommates and best friends... Even so, they're both keeping secrets from each other... What happens when questions are answered?


**__**

DISCLAIMER: I own Samantha Alexader and Jenna Milcauski. Anybody else belongs to one J.K. Rowling. 

****

Author's Notes: I hope this attempt is better than the first… I got the idea just before I went to sleep a couple nights ago… There's slash in here someplace… No like-y, no read-y. Okie dokie? Enjoy. Embrace. Review.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

****

Questions and Answers

By Katie of Gryffindor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Seventeen-year-old Percy Weasley climbed the stairs to his comfortable Gryffindor-Tower bedroom, clad in a pressed set of pale blue pajamas. He was lazily toweling off the still slightly damp mass of red atop his head. Yes, Percy was doing something lazily. Bathing was the one thing that Percy made sure to enjoy. He had just climbed through the portrait hole and made for his room after a relaxing bath in the Prefects' Bathroom. 

He reached his door and found it just barely ajar. Percy pushed it the rest of the way open and found Oliver Wood lounging on his bed. The boy was clad in only a pair of navy blue and hunter green plaid pajama pants.

"Hey roomie," said Oliver as he turned a page of the magazine in his hands. _Gentleman's Quidditch_ magazine was a favorite of the captain of the Gryffindor team, and he made sure to read every issue of the weekly publication cover to cover, hunting for new and interesting game tactics. 

"Reading _GQ_ as usual, I see." Percy smiled and walked to his own neatly-made bed. 

Oliver grinned. "But, of course!" He flopped the magazine down face down, still open to the page he'd just started. "Did you have a nice bath?" asked Oliver genially.

Percy nodded. "Yes. Perfectly soothing." He grinned "Doing laps is always nice and relaxing after a day of yelling at the firsties."

Oliver chuckled, tucking his hands behind his head and crossing his feet at the ankles. His eyes slipped closed in contentment, an amused smile on his lips. "You are downright nasty to them when you want to be, aren't you?"

Percy shrugged. "Is it my fault the little brats were trying to duel in the halls in the middle of the night? Damn kids," he grumbled, tucking his towel and dirty clothes into the hamper, folded smartly to prevent wrinkling. "Anyway, the Prefects' Bathroom has a great array of herbal remedies for stress." He picked up his comb and started to run it through his messy hair.

"Yeah, I remember," said Oliver as he stretched languidly.

Percy stopped and turned to stare at Oliver, puzzled at how his roommate would know about what the bathroom contained. "What do you mean, you remember?"

Oliver slid his eyes open slowly to look at Percy. "Oh. Um…"

Percy narrowed his eyes, obviously contemplating which of the prefects would have taken the Quidditch captain into the bathroom. And for what reason… "Who took you in there?"

Oliver looked away from his roommate, not wanting to upset the redhead. He did not want to get the prefect that brought him to the exclusive bathroom in trouble, either. He kept his mouth shut, refusing to reveal anything.

"Fine," said Percy. "I'll guess."

Oliver looked at his companion worriedly. _Damn. He's gonna guess and then go have a row with the poor girl and take off loads of points and all that…_ Outwardly, Oliver wore a steely expression, determined to keep his friend's identity unknown. 

"Okay, well, we know it wasn't me. How about…" Percy stopped to think a moment. "Katie? Katie Bell. She's on the team, and your whole ruddy team would do anything for you…" 

Oliver smirked, a proud look at the devotion of his teammates. But he shook his head. 

At the action, Percy continued. "Hmm. How about Cedric Diggory? You're both Quidditch players. Of course, you would stick together." 

Another negative response. 

"Warrington? Sure, he's from Slytherin, but you never know-" 

More head-shaking. 

"Davies? He's another Quidd-" Yet another guess shot down. Percy sighed grumpily. 

He proceeded to rattle off the list of all the rest of the prefects, starting with Gryffindor. He moved on to Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Finally, he was through all of Ravenclaw, save one name. _It can't be,_ thought Percy. He almost did not want to ask, but she was the last person it could possibly be. Percy took a deep breath.

"Penelope?"

Oliver remained completely still. That was when Percy knew he had hit the mark. He swallowed visibly. "When?"

Oliver looked up at him with trepidation. _No way out of this, I suppose… I didn't expect him to go through everyone's names…_ Oliver shifted his eyes away from the redhead's face. "Some time last year…" Oliver was suddenly fascinated at something extremely interesting above him. 

Percy nodded slowly. "I knew she was cheating on me…"

Oliver's eyes snapped back to Percy. "No! It was nothing like that… Well, it sort of was, but no! I didn't- I mean, we didn't-"

Oliver kept muttering, trying to explain somehow what did and did not happen. Percy held up a hand. "Just tell me what exactly went on."

Oliver stopped speaking. He sat up and drew his knees to his chest. He slipped his long arms around his legs and looked forlornly at Percy. "Alright." Oliver sighed heavily. "It was right after a really hard practice. I was just coming in from the pitch, and I was all muddy and she was standing right there in the Entrance Hall…"

~ * ^ * ~

__

"Hey Ollie!"

Oliver looked up from the floor, surprised. "Oh. Hey Penny."

Penelope Clearwater stepped up next to Oliver to walk with him. "Where've you been? Have you taken up mud wrestling or something?"

Oliver looked down at his soiled Quidditch robes and laughed. "No, just a nasty practice out in the rain."

Penelope nodded. "Hey, d'you want to know what Roger does after a good long practice?"

Oliver glanced over at the girl. "What?"

"He goes and has a nice relaxing soak in the tub of the Prefects' Bathroom. There's some really great herbal bath soaps and such." Penelope grinned at her boyfriend's best friend. 

Oliver smiled. "It's a shame I'm not a prefect then, I suppose."

"It is_ a shame… But I am."_

Oliver stopped walking and stared at her. "Well, yes. But I'm still not allowed in there…"

Penelope smiled. "No one has to know you were there."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Penelope's smile turned sly. "I can sneak you in and out."

Oliver's other eyebrow rose to meet the first. "And why would you want to do that?"

Penelope shrugged. "Because I want to."

Oliver looked at her skeptically. "I don't know, Penny…"

"There's massage jets in the tub…" tempted Penelope.

Oliver sighed. "Alright, lead the way."

The two teens walked for a while. Penelope stopped next to a statue of a confused wizard wearing his gloves the wrong way. Oliver almost kept going until he noticed the girl was no longer next to him. He backtracked. Meanwhile, she whispered the password in the wizard's ear, and the door slid open. Penelope stepped in, followed closely by Oliver. 

The room was thankfully empty. Oliver looked around in awe, his eyes resting finally on the gigantic pool-like tub. Penelope sent a simple locking spell at the door and grinned at Oliver. "Well," she said. "What do you think?"

Oliver was still gaping. "It's- It's amazing. You prefects are so lucky!" 

Penelope stepped closer to him. "You're pretty lucky, too." 

"How's that? I get to shower in a big old room with the rest of the guys in the locker rooms! After every game, I get to see two hairy Weasley butts. How is that lucky?" Oliver shuddered at the mental picture of two naked Weasley twins. I may be gay, but Fred and George are definitely not my type…_ Oliver looked back at Penelope only to realize that she was now standing directly in front of him, practically nose to nose with him. "P-P-Penny… What are you doing?"_

"Shh." Penelope put a slim finger over his lips to shut him up. Then, when she removed her finger, she leaned in and kissed the stunned Gryffindor captain. 

Oliver pushed her away almost immediately and stumbled backward. "Bloody hell, Penny! What the hell was that?"

Penelope giggled. "It's called a kiss, Ollie."

"Well, yes. I know that. But, why in the hell did you kiss me?"

Penelope pouted. "I wanted to. I have for a long time."

Oliver gawped at her. "Penny, you are dating my best friend. How could you do this to Percy?"

Penelope shrugged carelessly. "Percy doesn't do it for me all the time. And you're hot. And you seemed like you wanted to kiss me."

Oliver could not believe his ears. "What in the name of Merlin made you think that I would want to kiss you?" he cried.

"You came with me here… It's common knowledge that this is the_ place to have a great snogging session." _

Oliver gaped some more. "First off, I didn't know that. Second… Bloody hell! How could you think I would want to help you cheat on Percy. May I remind you again… He's my best friend!_ I would never do anything to screw that up!"_

Penelope shook her head. She looked at him angrily. "Fine," she said. "Whatever. I'll only get someone else to snog." She undid the locking charm on the door and stormed out, leaving Oliver to stare after her.

"Bloody hell," said Oliver, perturbed. He looked around the room. The rebel in him woke up then. "What's one little bath?" he said slyly.

~ * ^ * ~

Oliver gazed at Percy miserably. "I'm sorry, Perce. I didn't know what she wanted. Really. I never would have even gone if-"

Percy waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it, Oliver. I don't care."

"What?" Oliver was confused. 

"I don't care," repeated Percy. "She and I are no longer together."

"What?!?" 

Percy shrugged. "We split a couple weeks ago. We didn't click right. We barely had anything in common."

"Oh." Oliver looked at Percy. "I'm sorry, Perce. I had no clue you weren't together anymore. I guess I've been too wrapped up in Quidditch. A good roommate would have known."

Percy smiled reassuringly. "It's alright. Besides. She's already seeing Roger Davies. And I fancy someone else."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Really? Which lovely girl is next on Percy Weasley's 'Girls I Want to Snog' list?" 

Percy shook his head. "Not telling."

"Oh, c'mon Percy. Who is she?" Oliver had a sly look on his face. "I know you want to tell."

Percy shook his head again. "No way."

Oliver unfolded himself and swung his legs off the bed. He gazed at Percy critically, trying to figure out which girl Percy suddenly fancied. _It's a shame he's not into men. And an even bigger shame he's not into me…_ Oliver hopped off the bed and stepped up next to Percy. He began circling the Head Boy, determined to get this secret out of Percy.

He stopped in front of Percy again and folded his arms in front of him. "Hmm. That muggle-born girl, Samantha Alexander? She's always been sweet to us."

Percy shook his head. "Nope." 

"Right," said Oliver throwing the heel of his hand into his forehead. "She's with that nice muggle boyfriend of hers. Who else? Oh! Jenna Milcauski? You're so nice to her in class…" 

"Wrong again, Oliver," said Percy. _He is _not_ going to get it out of me._ He folded his arms to mirror Oliver's stance.

Oliver glared at him, lost in thought. He mentioned all the Gryffindor girls in their year, and proceeded on to the sixth and fifth years. Oliver figured Percy would not want to date anyone much younger than that. 

"Angelina Johnson?" tried Oliver. "She is very pretty, and smart…"

"Sorry, Oliver." Percy shook his head for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Oh, come _on_, Perce!" whined Oliver childishly. "You know I won't tell!"

"I'm not telling you who he is, Oliver." Percy instantly clapped his hands to his mouth. _Shit. I just said 'he.'_ Percy stared at Oliver with wide eyes. 

Oliver's eyebrows had disappeared under his bangs. "Oh?" he said slowly. "So it's not a girl, then?" A very large part of Oliver leaped in excitement. _He's into guys! Yes! I _do_ stand a chance!_ Oliver hid his pleasure at this and narrowed his eyes in thought again. "Hmm," he said again. "What nice bloke could you be interested in?"

Percy just stared at Oliver, scared. He lowered one hand from his mouth, as it was still clutching his comb. When he slapped his hands over his mouth, Percy had managed to stick the comb up his nose. _Ew_, he thought in spite of himself._ I have got to clean this thing… Wait, why am I getting grossed out by a comb when Oliver could guess…_

Oliver had not yet guess any boys' names. He was not sure if he wanted to know what boy Percy fancied. _What if it's not me…_ Oliver took a deep breath. "Perce, is it me?"

Percy's eyes went even wider than they already were. He lowered his other hand and gazed at his roommate and best friend for almost seven whole years. 

Slowly he nodded.

He opened his mouth to apologize for changing the whole dynamic of their friendship, but he never had the chance. 

All at once, Oliver was on Percy. He held Percy's face in his hands and brought their lips together. In that kiss, all the repressed emotions both teens had felt were finally liberated. 

Percy dropped the comb to the floor and threw his arms around the other boy. He slipped his tongue out of his mouth and ran it along Oliver's lips. Oliver moaned softly, opening his mouth willingly. The instant their tongues touched, the boys both felt a surge of energy. Their hands were flying over the newly accessible bodies, aching in desire. 

After a moment, Percy chuckled. 

Oliver pulled back and looked at the Head Boy. "What?" he asked breathlessly. 

Percy grinned at the Quidditch captain. "I just thought of something."

"What's that?" asked Oliver.

"Penny and I have more in common than I thought," said Percy, amused. 

"Oh?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"We have the same taste in men."

~*~ The End ~*~


End file.
